Easterfront 2018 Early War Points

[Jamrowski]

With the view / excitement surrounding a foray into Early War by our Flames community in 2018 and the dialogue regarding points, an opportunity for people to vote. BF Tournament Standard for Early War events is 1250pts which may mean people don’t have to buy / invest too much (time/money) to get involved.

That said 1550pts has something of a ‘sweet spot’ for Early War in former years (I’m reliably informed).

So what is it to be - vote now (poll open)

[Lavallin]

I've voted 1525, but am happy to go anywhere from 1500 to 1575. To my mind, 1250 is a bit low, especially given the lack of "swiss army knife" multi-purpose platoons in EW. The tools are so specialised that you really need all of them to stand a chance.

I'm also very happy to play some TY at some point (potentially in the 75-80pt range, single tank companies, as discussed.)

[Stu's Idle]

I've voted 1,550 purely because I've already thrown a list together at these points and I'm lazy, so don't want to have to change it. It's not much effort however so I'm very happy to go with any points level, I don't know enough about EW to have a strong opinion.

[Vyper]

I'm honestly happy with any of the points options.

1250 forces some tough decisions and probably keeps the games flowing quickly. I think anything between 1500 and 1575 is honestly much of a muchness, but 1650 just seems like a good way of not finishing three games. Overall, happy to go with majority vote - unless it's leaning towards TY nonsense.

[Jamrowski]

Still anyone’s game at the moment - voting inconclusive (Still time for ‘Team Yankee’ to rally )

[Jamrowski]

Still relatively close; 2 emerging front runners........ any more votes?

[Lavallin]

My 1525 may as well be a 1550, TBH.

So, on the basis that we have a fairly strong, if not unanimous consensus, does anyone fancy a game of 1550 EW next week? Tues or Weds evenings, or any time on Thurs/Fri.

[Stu's Idle]

I'd be happy to give you a game on Wednesday.

[Jamrowski]

I’m booked up next week (DUST), but I’m keen to have a foray into Early War during Jan (‘18) if anyone is interested.....

Anyone else spotted this: https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=5897

[Lavallin]

How is Weds 03 Jan for you? I'm technically back at work that day, but doubt it'll be the longest day ever. Otherwise, if you can do Tues 02, I'm off that day, so can happily do an afternoon game if that suits?

[Vyper]

Anyone else spotted this: https://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=5897

Intriguing! What are 'History Points' exactly?

[andycuk]

What books/lists cover Early.. BEF, Barbarossa and Blitzkrieg?

Given the earliest I have is the Africa campaign Desert Rats stuff, I think I'm ruled out regardless

[Jamrowski]

What books/lists cover Early.. BEF, Barbarossa and Blitzkrieg?

Given the earliest I have is the Africa campaign Desert Rats stuff, I think I'm ruled out regardless

Not so fast; don’t forget ‘Hellfire & Back’.......Desert Rats vs Italians plus early DAK

Matilda’s, Valentines, Stuart’s, Crusaders, Cruisers etc all good (albeit Matilda’s are a daft number of points) - hopefully this brings you back into contention? (There’s also Burning Empires, but from memory, this is geared towards ‘Raiding Aces’ and less about Armour .......)

[andycuk]

Only brings me back into contention with a fairly large purchase of models I didn't plan to, tbh
A lot of which is no doubt old stock right now and a bugger to get hold of given BF's current MF focus

[Jamrowski]

Only brings me back into contention with a fairly large purchase of models I didn't plan to, tbh
A lot of which is no doubt old stock right now and a bugger to get hold of given BF's current MF focus

Stating the obvious I’m sure, but BF make a decent range of plastics now that you can field in early war (Crusaders and Honey’s) plus there’s some great deals out there on PSC models (Honey’s, Cruisers <A9, A10 and A13> with Valentines on the way in 2018) and Zvezda are hard to ignore for Stuart’s and Matilda’s

....the good thing with Early War Tanks is they tend to be points heavy (unless you are Soviets), so you really don’t need many

[andycuk]

Well I found a cheap copy of Hellfire&Back ebay so ordered that and can take a look when it arrives.
If nothing else I can always play EW US and stay at home

[Jamrowski]

If nothing else I can always play EW US and stay at home

“Ah, the naivety of youth” (as Stu is fond of telling me)

US can play Early War (you don’t get out of it that easily); army lists are in Gung-Ho (at 500pts per Sherman, you don’t need many models either ).

Personally, I’ve always been tempted by the US Amphibious Tank Company.......(managed to resist thus far)

[Lavallin]

Anyone up for a game on Tues 02nd or Weds 03rd?

I've a couple of EW lists I'm keen to try out. I'm also thinking about a few rules for Easterfront in order to mix things up a bit, but would like to discuss them with another person before I go firm on any!

[Lavallin]

Happy new year, all.

Easterfront brainstorming:

Date: 24th/25th Mar or 7th/8th April - avoiding the Easter weekend itself, but remaining close by.

Lists: Any 1550 EW. This includes Pacific War points, and Raiding Aces. It is possible, albeit very very silly to create a raiding force at 1550pts. Whether it's possible to actually play remains TBD. If you're playing Pacific, please try to restrain yourself and not bring Shermans. Actually, no, they're 500pts each - go nuts...

Terrain: Yes. I'm keen to put down some odd terrain which we don't often use. 4'x4' Bocage is probably a step too far, but deep rivers (impassable except at bridges) and steep cliffs (impassable except to mountaineers) are options. If we can scrape together a winter table, be prepared for the return of the frozen lake! If anyone plays a Desert Fort list, then somehow we will find a way to make that work too. If someone brings USMC out of sheer bloody-mindedness, we'll stick a beach assault in there (I'll probably bring some spare platoons so we can make this work).

Missions: 3 games, all 1v1. However, I'm open to suggestions. I like More Missions, I like Fog of War (mainly because it forces mobility and rewards use of recce), and for anyone who brings a Raiding Force, it would be heartless of me not to have them play an actual raiding mission.

[Vyper]

All sound like reasonable suggestions and I especially like the idea of more varied (and extreme) scenery or special rules to mix things up.

My only concern would be that if we get a lot of infantry players than three 1550 point games could go on for a long time! I'd also be up for mixing up the battle sizes throughout the day, such as:

1550 singles
1250 singles
775 doubles with random pairings (in case of odd numbers, players can use their first lists solo instead).

[Lavallin]

My only concern would be that if we get a lot of infantry players than three 1550 point games could go on for a long time!

I definitely hear where you're coming from, and for v3 I would very definitely have agreed with you. Due to the movement speeds in v4, while I accept that infantry will play a little slower than tanks, I'm not sure it'll be unreasonable to get three games in. That said, I think the best way forward is to play a few games to test this out.

How are you set for a game on Weds 24th Jan?

[Jamrowski]

Always get nervous when I hear ‘Infantry’..... (just have visions of drawn games throughout the day as both side dig in and shell each other)

That said, it will give me an excuse to dig out my Luftlandesturm glider borne Fallschirmjaeger (assuming they will be a valid entry of course)

[Lavallin]

They will certainly be a valid entry, and, similarly to some of the special missions listed above, it would be morally wrong of me not to allow you to play a glider landing mission if you did bring them.

I understand the fear of draws in the abstract; however let's try to get a couple of EW Inf games in (most of what I've played so far has been tanks) and then we'll have a better feeling whether that really is a likely outcome. As I said above, my feeling is that v4 changes (movement, and repeat bombardments) do make infantry lists a little less static.

[Vyper]

I've got some assembly that I need to finish in order to get my infantry company together (including a half dozen pak36s!) but I should have everything ready by the 24th.

[Stu's Idle]

I have a list ready to go. It has a frankly stupid amount of infantry. I feel that if anything would test the 'infy always draw' theory they would.
With V4 I'm much more likely to get out of the foxholes and run, even with conscripts (including unarmed ones). I do think that, with this list, if I did dig in, no one would ever shift me.
Anyone fancy putting that to the test? I promise I won't stay dug-in for the whole game, not everyone anyway .

[Jamrowski]

They will certainly be a valid entry, and, similarly to some of the special missions listed above, it would be morally wrong of me not to allow you to play a glider landing mission if you did bring them

Genius - great call!

Whilst I’m on a roll (excuse obvious wargaming pun), if I were to use my Early War Fallschirmjaeger from ‘Burning Empires’, would I be able to use the airborne assault rules for Airborne Forces (from memory it’s the ‘Seize and Hold’ mission <what’s not to like about scattering Forces randomly dropping on the board >).

If Early War precedent is required, I’ll point to the Invasion of Crete (at the very least it’ll stop me bringing a Soviet Tank ‘Horde’ <or a daft number of Honey Stuart’s>; let’s face it, Soviet Tank Armies are ‘sooooo 2017’)

It’ll certainly be something different for a number of players to experience....

It’s a personal thing, but - whilst the concept of ‘doubles’ could be great fun, I’m less sold on the idea of de-escalation (reducing points between rounds) this time around

[Lavallin]

Easterfront planning information: this will stay up for one week (ish) and will go final on Thurs 01 March unless anyone has any major objections:

Date: either Sat 07 Apr or Sun 08 Apr (subject to majority vote/whining)
Time: from 0930 (setup from 0900)
Format: 3x games, 1550pts, singles, mostly using More Missions, but with special missions very much included. Anyone who brings an eligible list will be guaranteed to get at least one appropriate mission, e.g. Glider Landing, Amphibious Assault, Raiding etc.
Lists: Any EW company, including Pacific. Rebates for command teams etc apply.
Tables: I'm keen to try some 'odd' terrain. Could include an Italy table with cliffs, a winter table with deep snow (and the return of Frozen Ponds), etc. Happy to take suggestions!

[Vyper]

I am available either for Saturday or Sunday, but would prefer the Saturday as it allows for a recovery day afterwards!

I presume we are looking to keep the same list throughout the event (unlike for Tanksgiving), in which case I'm genuinely considering playing as 'counts-as' Germans. I've been looking at the Mountain Infantry Company and Parachute Infantry Company from Burning Empires as a way of playing Veterans in Early War. Most of the gear is the same anyway!

Edit: Or a Czech Panzer Platoon. I can have a looted T-34...

[Lavallin]

Thread is up in the events section.